Hiding places

[Cyndi]

First off I want to apologize for being such a pain with all the questions, but this is all new to me

When we first got Kyo, we put a large artificial plant in a basket in her house (she can't get any parts off along with a box to hide in. She decided that the plant was her hidey spot, and she would also sleep there at night.

Well, she has been using it less and less until today I realized that she hadn't slept in it in a week. She has been sleeping on her basking shelf or mid level, next to the plant.

It used to be that whenever we would handle her or do anything in there, straight into the plant.

Well, today I went to check on her tail (she wasn't real receptive to that today, lol) and when I was done, right down the ramp into the plant. But all she did was crawl through it to get to her other window to climb the screen.

Is this a good thing? Does it mean that she knows we won't eat her? Temps are all fine, 93 hi, 82 mid, 73 low.

Thanks,
Cyndi

[mar]

Sounds good.

You are not a pain with all the questions. We all bring questions to the table but with that we each bring answers to others questions. I have had Bob for nine years now and still pepper this board with questions, usually they are rather obscure though.

I don't know how long Kyo has been in the cage or how big she is. She simply may have grown too big to easily stay in the plant to sleep. She probably knows now that you mean her no harm thus there is little reason to escape you and hind in the plant. This is a good thing, and normal, shows that you have made much progress on taming her and will end up with a good friend. Keep at it.

Several people use fake plants in their cages without trouble but I am not a fan of them -- too hard to clean and what happens when they are eaten. If you remove it try removing parts of it at a time. The plant may be like Kyo's security blanket. We all know how much a small cage change can upset our reptilian masters.

Mark

[Merlin]

As Mark said, questions and answers are what we are all here for! None of us was born knowing about igs and exchanging info with other keepers is how we advance in the best ways to care for our charges.

It sounds to me like the ig is settling in. My Zok views her entire cage as her security place. Often times if she is out and something upsets her she just makes a bee line for home. Its hilarious when we have visitors and they realize that a "dumb lizard" will go and get back in her cage all on her own.

[Tesa]

I agree that she is feeling more secure.

Thrasher does the same thing that Merlin's Zok does, with the same results from amazed humans. ;D

btw.....If people never had questions, we wouldn't have an Iguana-Zone.

[Cyndi]

Thank you all so much You are the greatest!

Yes Mark, she is starting to hang over the edges a little, but I am not going to remove it (God forbid).
I removed a live floor plant (yucca) that was an ant farm, and she pouted for a week! We flushed the plant with water to get rid of ants, and put it on her sun porch. It's the first thing she goes to out there.

Thanks again,
Cyndi

[IguanaKing]

I'll cast my vote for her feeling more secure too. It takes a while for them to learn to trust you. ;D

I like Merlin's comment about the "dumb lizard" going back into its cage. A lot of people still can't believe that Hercules will actually force his cage door open so he can run to the tub, climb in, poop, climb back out, and go back to his cage. The only reason I have a door on my igs' cage is to keep the apartment manager happy (I don't tell him my igs know how to open it ). Hopefully Hercules will teach Audrey to use the tub too, he taught Mercury how (she learned by watching), and it was amazing how much easier it was to clean up after them.

No problem with answering questions, I think that's why we're all here, to help each other. I enjoy helping others with their igs. ;D